Saturday, April 07, 2007

AP EXAM OVERVIEW

AP Exam Overview

Here's the outline put out by the CollegeBoard which should give you an idea of where the questions will be coming from:

I. Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government (5-15%)

The study of modern politics in the United States requires students to examine the kind of government established by the Constitution, paying particular attention to federalism and the separation of powers. Understanding these developments involves both knowledge of the historical situation at the time of the Constitutional Convention and an awareness of the ideological and philosophical traditions on which the framers drew. Such understanding addresses specific concerns of the framers: e.g., Why did Madison fear factions? What were the reasons for the swift adoption of the Bill of Rights? Familiarity with the Supreme Court's interpretation of key provisions of the Constitution will aid student understanding of theoretical and practical features of federalism and the separation of powers. Students should be familiar with a variety of theoretical perspectives relating to the Constitution, such as democratic theory, theories of republican government, pluralism, and elitism.

  1. Considerations that influenced the formulation and adoption of the Constitution
  2. Separation of powers
  3. Federalism
  4. Theories of democratic government

II. Political Beliefs and Behaviors (10-20%)

Individual citizens hold a variety of beliefs about their government, its leaders, and the U.S. political system in general; taken together, these beliefs form the foundation of U.S. political culture. It is important for students to understand how these beliefs are formed, how they evolve, and the processes by which they are transmitted. Students should know why U.S. citizens hold certain beliefs about politics, and how families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change these beliefs. Understanding the ways in which political culture affects and informs political participation is also critical. For example, students should know that individuals often engage in multiple forms of political participation, including voting, protest, and mass movements. Students should understand both why individuals engage in various forms of political participation and how that participation affects the political system.

Finally, it is essential that students understand what leads citizens to differ from one another in their political beliefs and behaviors, and the political consequences of these differences. To understand these differences, students should focus on the different views that people hold of the political process, the demographic features of the American population, and the belief and behavior systems held by specific ethnic, minority, and other groups.

  1. Beliefs that citizens hold about their government and its leaders
  2. Processes by which citizens learn about politics
  3. The nature, sources, and consequences of public opinion
  4. The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in political life
  5. Factors that influence citizens to differ from one another in terms of political beliefs and behaviors

III. Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media (10-20%)

Students should understand the mechanisms that allow citizens to organize and communicate their interests and concerns. Among these are political parties, elections, political action committees (PACs), interest groups, and the mass media. Students should examine the historical evolution of the U.S. party system, the functions and structures of political parties, and the effects they have on the political process. Examination of issues of party reform and of campaign strategies and financing in the electronic age provides students with important perspectives. A study of elections, election laws, and election systems on the national and state levels will help students understand the nature of both party and individual voting behavior. Treatment of the development and the role of PACs in elections and the ideological and demographic differences between the two major parties, as well as third parties, form an important segment of this material.

Students must also consider the political roles played by a variety of lobbying and interest groups. Important features of this section of the course include an explanation for why some interests are represented by organized groups while others are not, and the consequences of these differences. Students study what interest groups do, how they do it, and how this affects both the political process and public policy. Why are certain segments of the population, such as farmers and the elderly, able to exert pressure on political institutions and actors in order to obtain favorable policies?

The media has become a major force in U.S. politics. Students are expected to understand the role of the media in the political system. In addition, the impact of the media on public opinion, voter perceptions, campaign strategies, electoral outcomes, agenda development, and the images of officials and candidates should be explored and understood by students. Understanding the often symbiotic, and frequently conflictual, relationship between candidates, elected officials, and the media is also important.

  1. Political parties and elections
    1. Functions
    2. Organization
    3. Development
    4. Effects on the political process
    5. Electoral laws and systems
  2. Interest groups, including political action committees (PACs)
    1. The range of interests represented
    2. The activities of interest groups
    3. The effects of interest groups on the political process
    4. The unique characteristics and roles of PACs in the political process
  3. The mass media
    1. The functions and structures of the media
    2. The impact of media on politics

IV. Institutions of National Government: The Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts (35-45%)

Students must become familiar with the organization and powers, both formal and informal, of the major political institutions in the United States- the Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the federal courts. The functions these institutions perform and do not perform, as well as the powers that they do and do not possess, are important. It is necessary for students to understand that power balances and relationships between these institutions may evolve gradually or change dramatically as a result of crises. Students are also expected to understand ties between the various branches of national government and political parties, interest groups, the media, and state and local governments. For example, a study of the conflicting interests and powers of the President and Congress may help explain recent and repeated struggles to adopt a national budget.

  1. The major formal and informal institutional arrangements of power
  2. Relationships among these four institutions, and varying balances of power
  3. Linkages between institutions and the following:
    1. Public opinion and voters
    2. Interest groups
    3. Political parties
    4. The media
    5. Subnational governments

V. Public Policy (5-15%)

Public policy is the result of interactions and dynamics among actors, interests, institutions, and processes. The formation of policy agendas, the enactment of public policies by Congress and the President, and the implementation and interpretation of policies by the bureaucracy and the courts are all stages in the policy process with which students should be familiar. Students should also investigate policy networks, iron triangles, and other forms of policy subgovernments in the domestic and foreign policy areas. The study of these will give students a clear understanding of the impact of federalism, interest groups, parties, and elections on policy processes and policy making in the federal context.

  1. Policy making in a federal system
  2. The formation of policy agendas
  3. The role of institutions in the enactment of policy
  4. The role of the bureaucracy and the courts in policy implementation and interpretation
  5. Linkages between policy processes and the following:
    1. Political institutions and federalism
    2. Political parties
    3. Interest groups
    4. Public opinion
    5. Elections
    6. Policy networks

VI. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (5-15%)

An understanding of United States politics includes the study of the development of individual rights and liberties and their impact on citizens. Basic to this study is an analysis of the workings of the Supreme Court and an understanding of its most significant decisions. Students should examine judicial interpretations of various civil rights and liberties such as freedom of speech, assembly, and expression; the rights of the accused; and the rights of minority groups and women. For example, students should understand the legal, social, and political evolution following the Supreme Court's decisions regarding racial segregation. Finally, it is important that students be able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Supreme Court decisions as tools of social change.

  1. The development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial interpretation
  2. Knowledge of substantive rights and liberties
  3. The impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional development of rights and liberties

**************************************tips for the Free Response**************

Tips for Students
Random Guessing Is not Advisable
It is not advisable to guess. For questions with five answer choices, one-fourth of a point is subtracted for each wrong answer. Therefore, if students know nothing that helps them eliminate even one of the multiple-choice options, they probably won't benefit by randomly choosing an answer. Educated guessing, however, can be beneficial. If students are fairly sure that even one of the options is wrong, it may be worthwhile to answer the question. Of course, if they can eliminate two or three options as probably incorrect, their chances of gaining credit become even greater.

Read the Questions Carefully
This applies to both multiple-choice and free-response questions. For multiple-choice questions it is important for students to read the question carefully to look for words such as "NOT" and "EXCEPT." For free-response questions it is important that students respond to ALL PARTS of the question being asked. Understanding what is being asked and responding with specific evidence is a very useful skill. Long, involved descriptions full of random facts about a specific concept or political phenomenon are neither encouraged nor rewarded in the grading process; students must be taught to "read for the guidelines" in order to make sure both their information and presentation clearly and completely answer the actual question that is being asked.

Understand the Instructions and Action Verbs
Students may be asked to list, discuss, describe, explain, analyze, etc.; these are not all identical tasks. Also, the question may call for more than one task, such as both to identify and explain. Students should understand that some tasks are more complex than others. For example, composing a list may not even require a complete sentence, but students may need to write several paragraphs for a satisfactory discussion, including well-developed examples as support, in order to adequately explain some phenomenon. Here are some of the most common action words used in past free-response questions:

  • List/Identify: Listing or identifying is a task that requires no more than a simple enumeration of some factors or characteristics. A list does not require any causal explanations. For example, a student might be asked to list or identify three characteristics Presidents consider when making appointments. Such a list, which could be bulleted or numbered, and might include party, race, gender, etc.

  • Define: A definition requires a student to provide a meaning for a word or concept. Examples may help to demonstrate understanding of the definition. Students may be instructed to note the term's significance as part of the definition.

  • Describe: A description involves providing a depiction or portrayal of a phenomenon or its most significant characteristics. Descriptions most often address "what" questions. For example, if students are asked to describe reasons for the decline in voter turnout, in the description they must do more than simply list facts ¿- they must actually describe the reasons. For example, students may explain that the expansion of suffrage led to decline in overall voter turnout because once voting was made available to more individuals, the overall percentage of those voting declined.

  • Discuss: Discussions generally require that students explore relationships between different concepts or phenomena. Identifying, describing, and explaining could be required tasks involved in writing a satisfactory discussion.

  • Explain: An explanation involves the exploration of possible causal relationships. When providing explanations, students should identify and discuss logical connections or causal patterns that exist between or among various political phenomena.

  • Compare/Contrast: This task requires students to make specific links between two or more concepts or phenomena. They should understand that it is important to note similarities AND differences between the concepts or phenomena under consideration.

  • Evaluate/Assess: An evaluation or assessment involves considering how well something meets a certain standard, and as such generally requires a thesis. It is important to identify the criteria used in the evaluation. If no criteria are explicitly given in the question, students should take care to clearly identify the ones that they choose to employ. Specific examples may be applied to the criteria to support the student's thesis. Evaluation or assessment requires explicit connections between the thesis or argument and the supporting evidence.

  • Analyze: This task usually requires separating a phenomenon into its component parts or characteristics as a way of understanding the whole. An analysis should yield explicit conclusions that are explained or supported by specific evidence and/or well-reasoned arguments.
Focus on Writing a Clear, Concise, and Well-Supported Response
Students should marshal evidence to document and support their statements and make use of concrete examples to demonstrate the main points of their arguments. They should explicitly define important terms and use the clearest, most direct terms possible. A direct, clear answer is likely to earn more points than a vague, rambling, ambiguous response.
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